Cigarette lighter

ABSTRACT

A gas cigarette lighter having a burner nozzle, a manually operable closure cap associated with the burner nozzle and a reservoir for holding lighter fuel. Within the reservoir there is disposed wall means which divides the reservoir into at least one first part in which the fuel is stored in its liquid phase and a second part which communicates with the burner nozzle and which contains fuel in its gaseous phase to which said wall means is pervious.

0 Wanted States Patent 1 1 1111 3,729,289 Bouvier 1 1 Apr. 24, 1973 [54] CIGARETTE LIGHTER 3,542,247 11/1970 Racek ..431/344x 3, 8 ,491 l l [75] lnventor: Daniel Bouvier, Paris, France 2 6 U 966 smnh 431/344 [73] Assignee: S. T. Dupont, Paris, France Primary ExaminerCarroll B. Dority, Jr. [22] Filed: Jam 5, 1971 Attorney-Edwin E. Greigg [21] AppL No.: 104,111 [57] ABSTRACT A gas cigarette lighter having a burner nozzle, :1 [30] Foreign Application Priority Data manually operable closure cap associated with the Jan 6 [970 Frmce 700mm) burner nozzle and a reservoir for holding lighter fuel. Within the reservoir there is disposed wall means [52] U S U Bl/344 272/. which divides the reservoir into at least one first part [5]] F23; 5 5 in which the fuel is stored in its liquid phase and a [58] Fie'ld H1 150 second part which communicates with the burner noz- 277 5 zle and which contains fuel in its gaseous phase to which said wall means is pervious 56] References Cited 4 Clalms, 2 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,066,5l4 12/1962 lketani 1143l/344 Patented April 24, 1973 HQ. I

CIGARETTE LIGHTER Gas cigarette lighters of the known type comprise a burner nozzle which terminates in the vicinity of an igniting mechanism, a shut-off valve, a fluid-tight reservoir in which liquified gas is stored and an adjustable mechanism, referred to hereinafter as the evaporator for controlling the flow rate of the gas passing through the burner and thus for regulating the height of the flame. The evaporator usually comprises a compressible porous tablet-like body disposed adjacent the internal terminus of the burner between a stationary part and an adjustable movable part. The porous tablet is supplied with the fuel in its liquid phase from the reservoir for example by means of a wick. The combustible liquid which impregnates the tablet evaporates when the shut-off valve is opened and the thus escaping gas is ignited. The evaporation is facilitated by the heat transferred to the surface of the porous tablet by means of the aforenoted adjustable movable part which is usually made of metal and which compresses the porous tablet to a greater or lesser degree. By adjusting the movable compressing member and thus changing the compression of the tablet, the height of the flame is regulated. Thus the porous tablet has the role of an evaporator and by means of its capillary tubes that deliver the gas to the burner nozzle, contributes to the limitation of the gas output by dampening the flow rate ofthe gas.

A device outlined above has two main disadvantages. In the first place the costs involved in the evaporator are substantial both because of the number and the complexity of the components and the manual labor necessary to effect its initial setting during the assembling operation. In the so-called disposable lighters the cost of the evaporator represents a very substantial percentage of the total price. Secondly, the evaporator is the source of malfunctioning of the lighter after a varying number of ignitions. The evaporation of the liquid phase of the fuel is limited to a very reduced zone of the porous tablet. The fuel is very seldom perfectly clean; prior to its introduction into the reservoir of the lighter it undergoes a number of treatments during the course of which it dissolves impurities such as oils and greasy materials which subsequently are deposited in the evaporating zone of the porous tablet and thus render the latter more or less impervious.

It is thus a desideratum to completely omit the aforeoutlined evaporator device and to supply the burner nozzle directly with the fuel in its gaseous phase which is formed in the reservoir itself. It is apparent that for such a purpose it is necessary to cause a sufficient loss of charge in the gas supply circuit in order to decrease the speed of the gas flow for thus obtaining a stable flame without turbulances. Such a flame is referred to as a diffusion flame." Further, it is necessary to isolate the burner nozzle from the'liquid phase because without such a measure droplets of the fuel may be deposited in the evaporating channel and may be carried by the gas flow at the moment of ignition and thus may cause irregularities of the flame and an uncontrollable height thereof. Such risks have to be taken into account particularly in case of pocket-type cigarette lighters which are often exposed to jolts and jars and are transported in widely different positions.

It is an object of the invention to provide, in a gas type cigarette lighter, an improved method of storing liquified gas fuel.

Briefly stated, according to the invention, in a cigarette lighter which includes an igniting mechanism, a fluid-tight reservoir for the combustible gas and a burner nozzle provided with a manually operable closing cap and connected with the reservoir by a feed channel, the liquified gas is stored inside the reservoir in at least one separate compartment partitioned from the rest of the reservoir by means of a selective wall which is pervious only to the gaseous phase of the fuel, while the feed channel of the burner nozzle is so dimensioned as to ensure a suitable charge or pressure loss when the closure cap of the burner nozzle is opened.

The invention will be better understood, as well as further objects and advantages become more apparent from the ensuing specification of two exemplary embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the drawing, wherein FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational sectional view of the first embodiment and FIG. 2 is a schematic side elevational sectional view of the second embodiment of the invention.

The selective wall may be mounted in the reservoir in a fixed manner. Preferably it is constituted by a membrane attached in a fluid-tight manner to the internal walls of the reservoir so that it divides the latter into two parts: one part receives the liquified gas, while the other part communicates with the burner nozzle by means of the feed channel. Preferably, the last named part has a smaller volume than the first part. It is ad'- vantageous if the said smaller volume is close to that of the gas volume consumed during one ignition; thus, in the order of 1 cm (FIG. 1).

It is also feasible to encapsulate the liquified gas in an envelope of a selective wall structure and place the capsule in the reservoir of the cigarette lighter (FIG. 2).

In order to facilitate the manipulation of such capsules and their introduction into the reservoir, it is advantageous to have a plurality of small capsules available. It is then another advantage that the total surface of the selective wall is increased, whereby its permeability to the gaseous phase is decreased without reducing the total gas outflow through said wall. This leaves a much wider choice for the material of which the selective wall is made.

The technique of microencapsulation is well known.

It consists of enclosing a wide variety of materials in small envelopes which are'substantially spherical and the diameter of which measures from a few microns to several millimeters. In case the capsules are of very small dimensions, the product is in the shape of a dry powdery material having the consistency of talcum. In case of capsules having a larger diameter, the material presents itself as a granular mass consisting of small spherical bodies large enough to be discernible with the naked eye and separable individually.

A great number of materials may be used for the microcapsules. At the present time there are more than 50 naturaland synthetic polymers which may find application in this process. The envelopes may have widely varying properties: they may be rigid or elastic, fluidtight or gas pervious. Up to the present time the microencapsulation in pervious envelopes has been used in the chemical industry for the purpose to reduce the volatility of a substance and in pharmacodynamics for delay purposes.

According to the invention it has been recognized that when the product encapsulated in a pervious envelope is volatile and the microcapsules are enclosed in a fluid-tight reservoir, the release of the product is limited by the vapor tension prevailing in the inside of the reservoir. Stated in different terms, the pervious envelopes cause in the reservoir the separation of the gaseous phase of the volatile product in two parts one of which, exterior of the envelopes, is isolated from the liquid phase. Further, if, by suitable means, the reservoir is connected to the ambient atmosphere, there is obtained a decrease of the pressure which prevails in the inside of the reservoir and which determines the diffusion through the wall of the microcapsules of a new gas quantity of the volatile matter. The magnitude of this phenomenon is determined by the permeability of said wall. The degree of permeability of the pervious envelopes of the capsules may be determined by manufacturing methods and may be controlled during or after the process of forming the said capsules.

It is thus a further object of this invention to provide a method of storing liquified gas in a cigarette lighter wherein the method consists of introducing into the fluid-tight reservoir of a cigarette lighter a plurality of small capsules, the envelopes of which are pervious only to the gaseous phase of the combustible gas and wherein the said capsules are obtained by a known method of microencapsulation of the gas in its liquified and finely fractioned condition.

It is also an object of the invention to provide, in an improved form, liquified gas lighter fuel which is encapsulated in microcapsules having a wall pervious only to the gaseous phase of the fuel.

Also, it is an objectof the invention to provide a gas cigarette lighter designed to permit the performance of the novel process. Accordingly, the gas cigarette lighter comprises an igniting mechanism, a burner nozzle and a fluid-tight fixed or removable reservoir and is characterized by the fact that the reservoir is designed or the combustible gas conditioned in such a manner that the reservoir is separated into at least two spaces, one of which encloses the gaseous phase of the said fuel with the exclusion of the liquid phase and that the lastnamed space is connected to the burner nozzle by a feed channel disposed and dimensioned in such a manner as to cause a pressure loss during the gas flow when a closure cap, associated with the burner, is actuated by the user.

What is claimed is: 1. A gas cigarette lighter using lighter fuel stored therein in a liquified state, comprising A. a burner nozzle, B. a manually operable closure cap associated with said nozzle for opening and closing the same, C. a reservoir for storing said fuel; said reservoir including l. a first space of relatively large volume receiving said fuel in liquid state for storage,

2. a second space of relatively small volume,

3. wall means separating said first space from said second space, said wall means being pervious solely to the gaseous phase of said lighter fuel and D. channel means connecting said second space of said reservoir with said burner nozzle. i

A gas cigarette lighter as defined in claim 1,

wherein said wall means is formed of a membrane affixed to the inside of said reservoir and dividing the latter into a first chamber constituting said first space and into a second chamber constituting said second space.

3. A gas cigarette lighter as defined in claim 1, wherein said lighter fuel is enclosed in its liquid phase in at least one capsule, the wall of which constitutes the wall means defined in (C) (3); the space enclosed by said capsule constitutes the space defined in (C) (l) I and the inner volume of said reservoir less the volume of said capsule constitutes the space defined in (C) (2). 4. A gas cigarette lighter as defined in claim 1, wherein said lighter fuel is enclosed in its liquid phase in microcapsules, the walls of which together constitute the wall means defined in (C) (3); the spaces enclosed by said microcapsules together constitute the space defined in (C) (l) and the inner volume of said reservoir less the total volume of said microcapsules constitutes the space defined in (C) (2). 

1. A gas cigarette lighter using lighter fuel stored therein in a liquified state, comprising A. a burner nozzle, B. a manually operable closure cap associated with said nozzle for opening and closing the same, C. a reservoir for storing said fuel; said reservoir including
 1. a first space of relatively large volume receiving said fuel in liquid state for storage,
 2. a second space of relatively small volume,
 3. wall means separating said first space from said second space, said wall means being pervious solely to the gaseous phase of said lighter fuel and D. channel means connecting said second space of said reservoir with said burner nozzle.
 2. a second space of relatively small volume,
 2. A gas cigarette lighter as defined in claim 1, wherein said wall means is formed of a membrane affixed to the inside of said reservoir and dividing the latter into a first chamber constituting said first space and into a second chamber constituting said second space.
 3. wall means separating said first space from said second space, said wall means being pervious solely to the gaseous phase of said lighter fuel and D. channel means connecting said second space of said reservoir with said burner nozzle.
 3. A gas cigarette lighter as defined in claim 1, wherein said lighter fuel is enclosed in its liquid phase in at least one capsule, the wall of which constitutes the wall means defined in (C) (3); the space enclosed by said capsule constitutes the space defined in (C) (1) and the inner volume of said reservoir less the volume of said capsule constitutes the space defined in (C) (2).
 4. A gas cigarette lighter as defined in claim 1, wherein said lighter fuel is enclosed in its liquid phase in microcapsules, the walls of which together constitute the wall means defined in (C) (3); the spaces enclosed by said micRocapsules together constitute the space defined in (C) (1) and the inner volume of said reservoir less the total volume of said microcapsules constitutes the space defined in (C) (2). 